Railway-car retarder



Oct. 14, 1930. w. c. McwHlRTER RAILWAY CAR RETARDER n Filed July 19,"192s @i Y www l uw Patented Oct. 14, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT oEFlcE'WILLIAM C. MCWHIRTER, 0F WILKINSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA7' ASSIGNOR T0 THEUNION SWITCH & SIGNAL COMPANY, OF SWISSVALE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORA-TION OIE' PENNSYLVANIA Y RATLWAY-CAR RETARDEP.

Application led July 19,

d My invention relates to railway car retarders of the type involvingbrake beams located in the trackway and movable into engagement with thewheels of a vehicle to retard the motion of the vehicle along the track.More specifically by present invention relates to the structure ofthebrake beams used in retarders of this character.

I will describe one form of retarded embodying my invention, and willthen point out the novel features thereof in claims.

In the accompanying drawing,`Fig. is a plan view showing a portion ofone form of car retarder embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectionalview of the retarder structure shown in Fig. 1. Fig.3 is a plan view,partly sectioned, and on an enlarged scale, showing the articulatingmeans connecting the brake beam sections of the retarder shown in Fig.l. Fig. l is a side View of a portion of the retarder shown in Fig. 3.Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line V-V of Fig. 3, looking in thedirection indicated by the arrows.

Similar' reference characters refer to similar parts in each of theviews.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, the reference character 1 designates atrack rail,

and the reference characters 2 and 3 designate car retarder brake beamslocated on opposite sides of the rail, respectively, and movable towardand away from the rail. Brake beam 2 is made up of a series of sections2a, 2b, 2C, etc., and brake beam 3 is similarly made up of a series ofsections 3a,

3b, 3C, etc. Each beam section is providedA with a plurality of springsG, one end of each spring being connected with the beam section and theother end being pivotally connected at point D with a plate 1l which isfixed to the railroad ties. Each spring G is disposed at an acute anglewith respect to the associated brake beam section, and each beam sectionis movable to the right, as viewed in Fi g. 1, into a closed positionwherein it engages the sides of the wheel of a vehicle passing throughthe retarder. 7When in closed position, the springs associated with eachbeam section bias the section toward the car wheels. The means formoving the brake beams longitudinally' to closed and 1928. Serial No.293,942;

open positions form no part of my present ward end of the section nextin the rear..

The inner face of the tongue 5 bears on the inner wall of the groove 6,so that when section 2, for example, is occupied by the wheels of avehicle, this section acts on the tongue 5 of section 2b, and so tendsto open section 12b against the action of the springs G. The

effect of a vehicle wheel in section 3EL is similarly to tend to opensection 3b against the action of the springs G associated with thelatter section. In other words, the tongue at theV rear end of section3b bears'on the inner face of the groove in section 3a. To put thematter in another way, the retarder is made up of right-hand beams andlefthand beams which are not identical, but which are reversed in so faras the tongues and grooves are concerned, so that a car wheel acting onsections 2a and 3a has the same effect on section 2b as it-has onVsection 3b.

Ihe adjoining ends of the sections of each beam are pivotally connectedLby a pin 9 which passesthrough holes 9a in section 2, for example, andthrough an elongated hole 9b in the tongue 5 of section 2b. The purposeof these pins is to articulate the brakebeam sections when a vehiclemoves through the retarder in the direction opposite to normal. Assume,for example, that a vehicle is movving in'the direction opposite to thatindicated so that when the wheels pass from section 2b into section 2,for example, there will be no tendency for the wheels to ride ontosection 2a.

The inner surface of each tongue 5 is preferably grooved to provide arolling engagement between this surface and the inner wall of the gioove6 during relative motion of the beam sections 2 and 2b. Furthermore, Ipreferably provide a replaceable wearing shim 8 between the tongue 5 andthe walls of the groove 6, this shim being U-shaped in the form hereshown. These shims tend to maintain alignment of the braking surfacesand they take up wear at the points of articulation. Each brake beamsection is, of course, provided with the usual replaceable brake shoe4e, which is indicated in Fig. 5, but which forms no part of my presentinvention.

One advantage of a brake beam structure embodying` my invention, is thatit provides liberal wearing surfaces at the articulation points, andanother advantage is that it provides definite means for assuringalignment of the brake shoes as a vehicle passes through the retarder.There is no Ystrain on the bolts holding the brake slices in place onthe brake beams as would be the case if the brake shoes were designed tooverlap the ends of the brake beams. The pins 9 provide a ready meansfor disconnecting the brake beam sections. To do this, it is merelynecessary to remove these pins and to then move the beam sectionrearwardly by moving it toward the traclway, thus disengaging the tongue5 from the recess 6. A beam section may be replaced by a similaroperation in the reverse order.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of car retarderstructure embodying my invention, it is understood that various changesand modifications may be made therein within the scope of the appendedclaims without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. A car retarder comprising a brake beam made up of a series ofsections, springs acting on each section to bias it toward the wheels ofa vehicle, the adjoining ends of the sections overlapping in such mannerthat when the retarder is closed and a vehicle passes through theretarder in the normal direction the section which is occupied by thecar will tend to open the next section ahead against the action of itsassociated springs, and pins connecting the adjoining ends of saidsections so that when the retarder is closed and a vehicle passesthrough it against the normal direction the section which is occupiedwill tend to open the next section ahead against the action of itsbiasing springs.

2. A car retarder comprising two brake beams one located on each side ofa track rail and each made up of a series of sections, springs acting oneach section to bias the section toward the wheels of a vehicle, theadjoining ends of the sections overlapping in such manner that when theretarder is closed and a vehicle passes through the re tarder in thenormal direction the section which is occupied by the car will tend toopen the neXt section ahead against the action of its associatedsprings, and pins connecting the adjoining ends of said sections so thatwhen the retarder is closed and a vehicle passes through it against thenormal direction the section which is occupied will tend to open thenext section ahead against the action of its biasing springs.

3. A. car retarder comprising a brake beam made up of a series ofsections, springs acting on each section to bias it toward the wheels ofa vehicle, a tongue formed on the rear end of each section and enteringa groove on the outside of the forward end of the section neXt in therear so that when the retarder is closed and a vehicle passes through itin the normal direction the section which is occupied will tend to openthe neXt section ahead against the action of its associated springs, anda pin through the lip on each section and the forward end of the neXtsection in the rear so that when the retarder is closed and a vehiclepasses through it against the normal direction the section which isoccupied will tend to open the next section ahead against the action ofits biasing springs.

Iii testimony whereof I affix my signature.

VILLIAM C. MCVVHIRTER.

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